Bridled nail-tail wallaby

Onychogalea fraenata

Blamed on cats

IUCN Status: Vulnerable

EPBC Threat Rating: Very high

IUCN Claim: “The species is threatened by introduced predators, the Red Fox and feral Cat especially’”

Studies in support

Cats hunt them (Horsup & Evans 1993; Fisher 1999; Fisher et al. 2001; Augusteyn et al. 2022). Wallabies were last confirmed in NSW 25 years after cats arrived (Wallach et al. 202X).

Studies not in support

No correlation was found between cat and wallaby abundance (Augusteyn et al. 2022). No evidence was found that killing cats promotes wallaby abundance (Augusteyn et al. 2022). Cats were not among predators of reintroduced, predator-inexperienced wallabies (Hayward et al. 2012).

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

There are no studies linking cats to nail-tail wallaby populations.

Evidence linking Onychogalea fraenata to cats. A. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Onychogalea fraenata and cats. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that cats contribute to the decline of Onychogalea fraenata, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance. B. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of cats. Error bars show record uncertainty range. Predator arrival records were digitized from Abbott 2008.
Evidence linking Onychogalea fraenata to cats. A. Systematic review of evidence for an association between Onychogalea fraenata and cats. Positive studies are in support of the hypothesis that cats contribute to the decline of Onychogalea fraenata, negative studies are not in support. Predation studies include studies documenting hunting or scavenging; baiting studies are associations between poison baiting and threatened mammal abundance where information on predator abundance is not provided; population studies are associations between threatened mammal and predator abundance. B. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of cats. Error bars show record uncertainty range. Predator arrival records were digitized from Abbott 2008.

References

Abbott, The spread of the cat, Felis catus, in Australia: re-examination of the current conceptual model with additional information. Conservation Science Western Australia 7 (2008).

Augusteyn, John, et al. “Bringing back the endangered bridled nail-tailed wallaby at Taunton National Park (Scientific) through effective predator control.” Wildlife Research (2022).

Fisher, D. O. “Behavioural ecology and demography of the bridled nailtail wallaby.” Onychogalea fraenata (1999).

Fisher, Diana O., Simon Phillip Blomberg, and Simon David Hoyle. “Mechanisms of drought-induced population decline in an endangered wallaby.” Biological Conservation 102.1 (2001): 107-115

Hayward, Matt W., et al. “Reintroduction of bridled nailtail wallabies beyond fences at Scotia Sanctuary-Phase 1.” Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. Vol. 134. 2012.

Horsup, A., and M. Evans. “Predation by feral cats, Felis catus, on an endangered marsupial, the bridled nailtail wallaby, Onychogalea fraenata.” Australian Mammalogy 16.1 (1993): 83-84

Wallach et al. 2023 In Submission